Sydney’s North Shore was – and still largely is - a very special place. It is a unique subset of Sydney’s wider Australian community…a separate civilisation almost, with it own habits, beliefs, and peculiar ways. Sandra Darroch (nee Jobson) was born and grew up there, and was privileged to be familiar with its particular atmosphere and culture (both high and low). So PUT DOWN AT BIRTH is a native’s expose of Sydney’s North Shore. It is not a history book, nor is it a Politically Correct tome. Instead, it gives an insider's view of what is still a little world unto itself. A reporter by both profession and inclination (she was the first female general reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald), Sandra looks back at the North Shore she grew up in and knew so well. She exposes the strengths and frailties which made this leafy enclave, even today, rather more genteel than the raffish other parts of Sydney. Strictly speaking, the genuine North Shore, which begins at Roseville and peters out around Pearces Corner, Wahrooonga, must be treated separately from the more general ‘North Side’ of Sydney.
